FR TDi PD170.

[AndyVTR]

Well yesterday I drove past my local dealer (Rusty's Of Scunthorpe) as I often do and noticed an FR TDi in my Luna Grey, pulled up and went in. Car looks nice almost enough to tempt me to the new looks although the £17.5k price tag is £2.5k over what I paid.
Inside it's everything what you would expect from a modern car. Feels nice and not as high as I expected. The AUX input is a 3.5mm jack for anyone that wanted to know. A new salesman spotted me and we chewed the fat for a while. I mentioned I wouldn't be upgrading as mine has only just turned a year old and that price tag is a bit silly. Anyway I took a pic and headed off but not before Tim the new sales guy invited me to come and drive the petrol FR next week. I said I'd prefer the TDi as that's what I drive now. He said fine and took my number and asked me to give him a call before I came back next week.

5 mins away from the showroom my excitement dulled somewhat. I got a phone call from the sales manager Russell Mason...

Now let me give you some history before I carry on. About February last year I was looking to buy my PD150. I shopped about quite a bit and spent lots of time in Rusty's talking to Russell about pricing and options and rubbish. As you do when you're about to spend £15k. He let me take a PD150 Toledo out and I was sold. I shopped about on the net and found www.AllBrandsNew.com who could do me my car with metallic, cruise and rain sensor for just under £15k. I went back to Rusty's and gave them the opportunity to match it. I was told that it would be an import and it would only come with a years warranty. This to me wasn't that much of a big deal as I do 30k a year meaning my warranty would only last 2yrs anyway. I went back to www.AllBrandsNew.com and told them. They assured me that all their cars come with 3yrs warranty as they are UK cars. This was later proved when I rang SEAT with my VIN and they confirmed. Russell at Rusty's offered me the same car but without rain sensor for £500 more. Also a pre reg by the way. I told him if he could drop £500 I'd sign up for it today. Anyway he wouldn't budge so I went back to www.AllBrandsNew.com and ordered it. I told Russell at Rusty's that I'd still be in for parts and servicing.

So, I answer my phone. Russell asks me if it's a private or company purchase. Told him I bought my last private although company funded. Not sure why that mattered really. He then said "last time you went off and bought it from Southport or somewhere" I did wonder why this mattered again but he went on "Tim is new and I can't let you drive it unless you sign on the dotted line". Hmm now I wasn't looking to buy one but humoured him with "I'm not going to buy a car I haven't driven am I?". I never mentioned I was going to buy it and was asked if I wanted to test it, which I did. I was then told "you know the rules"!!!

Now at this point I just wanted rid of him and agreed and ended the call. It was only afterwards I started to get annoyed. As previously mentioned I do 30k a year which means my car goes for servicing there 3 times a year. A total cost in it's first year of £437.04. My much better half has her Ibiza serviced there too and a month after I bought my car her dad drove mine and went and bought 17k's worth of shiny red LCR from them which has also been serviced there.

Am I being unreasonable or was he a little out of order? I nearly went back there to have it out with him but my missus stopped me.

I do really like the guys in the service department and they are the only ones I've trusted with my car so far, but what do I do in future? Helen is likely to be trading hers in next year for a new Ibiza too.

Mine is also due for it's 40k in just over a month...

M0rk feel free to move this to the Dealers section but I just wanted to get a few more opinions first.

 

[paxman21]

I think that does stink!

Whilst I was buying mine, I also shopped around and Johnson Seat at Braintree wouldn't get down to the price I found on the web and just said if I paid more and bought through them I would get a much superior service.

They got funny when I wanted to drive the DSG version after I'd already driven the manual- saying 'well if you're going to buy from someone else we wouldn't give you a test drive'.

My question is, how do you know if you even know you want to buy the car if you haven't driven one yet, let alone decide who you buy it from?

However, I do kinda see their point though, they obviously take people on alot of test drives and only sell a percentage of them cars.
Bit off topic- but think it's good to put it out there-

I will say I haven't received anything like the sort of service they promised me since I handed over the money. I didn't get mats when I picked up my car although that was part of the deal. I phoned them about this and Stuart Batchelor said he'd look into it and get back to me. After 2.5 weeks I phoned them again and he said the same thing and said he'd phone back that day. Needless to say I still havn't been called back and it's now 5 days later!!! Terrible customer service.

 

[leonlad]

buy the car before giving you take a test drive

sounds like some jumped up a hole , who made a few pennies selling cars this week.


why bother going to dealers and haggling , ring em up , can you do the car for £xxx if not piss off.

move on to the next one.

 

[chris285]

bit stupid imo, the test drive is there for a reason

 

[paxman21]

Yeh it's the wrong way round eh??

 

[peterho]

Hi Andy vtr,my son in law ordered a 5 door ibiza from Rustys yesterday morning not from Russell but he managed to secure us the car as it was going to another dealers,I think you must have caught him on a bad day although I do not know him personally. I think you are quite entitled to shop around and get the best deal and its up to the dealer to convince you to buy from them,I source all my hifi and tv gear from the internet but still go into shops and talk to salesmen so whats different about cars?.

 

[barnybullet]

Well Thanks for that andy thats really cheered me up. I am just biding my time(paying for a wedding) before taking the plunge for a chrono leon fr. I saw they had the FR Tdi this morning on my way home. Hopefully its the russell mason I know when i go in so it might help me when it comes to bargaining he always was a bit of a stickler for quoting rules. where is the next nearest to us to go to of they dont play ball as i am certainly not going to sign on the line without test driving one first!

 

[AndyVTR]

I'm sure if I was serious about buying the car he would let me drive it. New customers only? If he had rang me and said they're not doing test drive on it instead and just fobbed me off I'd have been ok about it. The fact that he mentioned I bought my car elsewhere was the thing that got me.

I'd also stated I wasn't interested in buying but I was still invited to test it which I would have liked to. Surely dealers make their money on aftersales servicing?

Seat UK anyone?

 

[the cat]

I'm sure if I was serious about buying the car he would let me drive it. New customers only? If he had rang me and said they're not doing test drive on it instead and just fobbed me off I'd have been ok about it. The fact that he mentioned I bought my car elsewhere was the thing that got me.

Aye, that's shocking service - how can they ever expect to win you back? Salesman fail to realise that even if you have no intentions of buying, if they offer good service (and a good deal) then you'll go back to them when you are ready to buy.

Patterson's Seat in Newcastle wouldnt let me drive an Ibiza Cupra until I'd committed.

 

[AndyVTR]

 

[Ol' Timer]

LOL at photo title.

 

[AndyVTR]

 

[barnabus]

you can understand Dealers getting hacked off about people buying cars from the internet, it only cripples the car industry in the long run and the irony is that customers end up paying more as dealers try to get some money back from servicing, thats if manufacturers dont just put prices up in the meantime, but you still cant excuse that sort of behaviour, he should have made more of an effort to get your business

oh, and nice pre-launch cover on the FR Russell!!

 

[Knigh]

Andy - seems the dealer is a bit mifted that you bought your car elsewhere. Welcome to the real world "Rusty".

Now if I wanted you to buy a car from me do you think I would take this attitude with you - of course not - I would like your business and would do all I could to get you to buy the car from me and then have it serviced at my dealership.

Is Russell the owner? I think you should email / write to the owner and express yourself. Also point out the damage Russell is doing to his business - if they don't care you will hear nothing. If they do want your customer (and family) then they will probably do something about it.

In this day and age with so much choice and competition some people still think crap customer service is acceptable.

 

[AndyVTR]

Russell is the sales manager. I'm not even sure I want to go back there other than to tell them I'm not coming back. They obviously don't want my business. James another salesmen is registered on here so I presume they know by now.

 

[A16NS V]

Just thought it might be relevant to add my 2 pence..
Had my Leon in for 40k service today at Milton Keynes Seat. It's been there for all it's services. Having read this thread yesterday I was looking forward to seeing an FR but I was told one hadn't arrived but launch was end of the week...i got the impression the Service guy didn't have a lot of interest so left it there.

Having said that as I picked the car up this afternoon I was taken aback by the new Leon TDi (assume 140pd) with a 'BTC Style' body kit in the showroom....

I think that's quite nice having not been impressed with the way the new shape looks.

As I was taking the photos a salesguy came over and asked if I wanted a closer look to which I replied I was more interested in the new FR. He immediately said that one had arrived that afternoon and was awaiting PDI. He eagerly took me through the workshop to see it and we chatted for a good 10 mins about the engine and he explained about the launch. He asked me if I wanted to come along and organise a test drive and even though I didn't give him any hint of commitment to buy he was genuinely open and enthusiastic about the car, especially as he had been to Silverstone the day before testing the new FRs.

I would say that Russell needs a to learn from this chap in basic sales technique because, being sales trained myself, you won't sell cars being an arsey type with a power trip.

 

[cuprarstu]

I thought I would also add my comments as I have direct experience of both garages in the earlier part of this thread.

I bought my Cupra R 210 from Rustys 3 years ago yesterday. At that time James was the Sales Manager, Russell was there as well I believe, but I had no contact with him. Russell may be related to the Manager of the garage as they share the same surname.

James was very helpful and keen to get my sale, and I got what I thought was a really good deal (although then there was not the range of internet companies around like there is today). He even delivered it to me free on a transporter to my home 150 miles away.

For the last two years I have had the car serviced at Johnsons In Braintree who is my local dealer. I have chatted to Stuart in sales who is friendly enough. But the service department has provided excellent customer service and rate them highly.

Anyway, enough crawling, but I do like to give credit where due, and a good deal from either of them on the new Cupra would be appreciated........

 

[AndyVTR]

Dear Mr Hickling

I write further to your email of 13th July 2006 concerning your dissatisfaction with our SEAT approved dealership, Rusty's of Scunthorpe.

I was sorry to hear of your experiences, please accept my apologies for any inconvenience caused.

I have discussed your email with the sales manager, Russell Mason, and he has advised that due to previous experience and sales discussions between yourself and the dealership he is not prepared to provide a test drive without a written sales commitment. He apologised for the confusion caused by the initial offer and subsequent withdrawal, but explained that the salesman was new and he had not been advised of this.

As I'm sure you will appreciate the dealerships are independent businesses and as such they are responsible for the own commercial practice. This of course includes the provision of test drives.

I acknowledge your comments concerning the sourcing of cheaper vehicles via the internet and obviously this can be used for negotiation with a dealer, however due to the above reason, it is again at the discretion of the dealer if they wish to match this price and in some instances this is simply not possible due to agreed sales policy between SEAT UK and the dealership.

If you wish to discuss these concerns further Russell is happy to speak with you and I would suggest contacting him if you need further clarification.

If I can be of any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me on our Freephone Customer Service line 0500 222222 during our office hours of 8.30am - 5.30pm Monday to Friday , or by return email.

Kind regards

 

[Snoopy]

So basically they fobbed you off.
I would write to the dealership manager or better still get an appointment with him. Tell him maybe even show him how much your family spend in servicing.

 

[AndyVTR]

Thanks for taking the time to look into my complaint. I understand your response with regards to dealer discretion on both the matter of test drives and the sourcing of vehicles from a cheaper source.

Did you however approach the question of why he rejected the test drive? This was obviously because I'd purchased my car previously elsewhere. Do your dealers have a policy of "new customers only"? Would you buy a car you had not drove?

Did I buy a car that I test drove? Yes. I tested his PD150 Toledo and bought my Leon. I will be taking my car in future to another dealer and hopefully they will be a bit more polite. They may even let me take out one of their PD170's and I may well buy one in future. If I decide to I'll go see Russell then if only to wave at him and show him that he's lost another sale due to his attitude.

SEAT will not lose out with my business but Rusty's certainly will while they have Russell working there.

Thanks again,

Andy